Raising funds for the Bristol Children’s Hospital charity, The Grand Appeal, Professor Andy Wolf spoke about his ordeal in front of a captivated audience who hung on his every word about how he overcame what is arguably the world’s most challenging test of physical and mental endurance but also 15-degree water, strong currents and one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes - not to mention countless jellyfish.

Living in Wrington, North Somerset, the event took place at Cadbury House in Congresbury and was the culmination of a three-year programme that resulted in the Professor completing the 21-mile swim in an amazing time of 12 hours and 42 minutes.

Commenting on his experience Andy said: “I really enjoyed talking about my experience in front of so many people from such different ages and backgrounds. There were several aspiring channel swimmers in the audience and it was great to share my experiences combined with other ultramarathon swimmers from the audience to give some insight into what is required.

“We also managed to raise more funds for the Children’s Hospital which was, of course, the main reason for doing the swim. We are approaching my target of £25,000 which will go towards The Grand Appeal’s 3D Bio-Printing Unit, a new ground-breaking unit which will revolutionise the treatment of children with complex cardiac conditions.”

An elite swimmer in his youth, it wasn’t until three years ago that the Professor took up endurance swimming which culminated in a successful relay channel swim in 2017. Having trained hard for that particular challenge, he decided to take it a step further and do the full swim on his own.

Swapping his time between the pool at the award-winning health club at Cadbury House, Clevedon Marine Lake and Brixham Bay to work on his technique and stamina while acclimatising to the cold water, the Professor completed the swim on 4 August and was awarded the Paul O’Clee Trophy by the Channel Swimming Association, as the oldest successful swimmer in 2018.

Pictured is Kate Jones of the Grand Appeal with Professor Andy Wolf.

Professor Wolf added: “More people have climbed Mount Everest than swum the English Channel and puts into perspective the enormity of the challenge.

“It took nearly three years of training but, after 30 years of caring for children with heart conditions, I wanted to take on this challenge to help change how we manage these problems in the future. Heart disease is one of the commonest diseases in infants affecting over 1% of children. Nowadays we can do so much more for these tiny patients and the outcomes are so much better than 30 years ago when I started.

“3D printing is revolutionising medical care, so it was also great to talk about the cutting-edge technology we’re developing here in Bristol. The unit will launch in the coming months, enabling the cardiac team to make exact copies of baby hearts in order to plan, prepare and practice the optimal procedures before an operation. In the future, we will develop bio-printing which will be absolutely revolutionary for many cardiac patients across the South West.

“I hope that my story will inspire others to set and achieve their own goals and to exercise without boundaries while overcoming their own fears of what is possible – all while doing it for a cause close to my heart such, as The Grand Appeal and Bristol Children’s Hospital.”

To support Professor Wolf please visit his Just Giving page at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/solochannelswim2018